The Famous Canals of Venice Without Water — a Photo Selection Worth Seeing

For the Italian city of Venice, floods are a common occurrence. This fact makes the recent sharp drop in the water levels of the city’s canals all the more surprising. And we’re talking about a rather unpleasant surprise here. For one thing, you cannot ride those beautiful gondolas on dry land. The only positive aspect of the situation is that there are plenty of opportunities for taking unique photos!

Today BrightSide presents you with a collection of amazing pictures from the center of Venice (taken on January 31 and February 1, 2018).

Several factors have led to the decrease of the water level: coldweather,lackofrainfall, and the recent supermoon (January 31, 2018), which affected the tides.

Photos taken this week show Venice in a decidedly unattractive light. The boats and gondolas, bogged down in silt and mud, don’t look particularly romantic.

In some places, the canal level has dropped by almost2ft. It is the third year in a row that Venice has experienced such an unusual drought. By the way, a record drop in water levels was recorded in1934—itamountedto4ft.

The drying out of the canals led not only to a trafficcollapse and temporary loss of income for gondoliers and water taxi drivers but also highlighted much more serious problems as well.

The unpleasant natural phenomenon struck right in time for the annual Venice Carnival, which will take place from January 27 to February 13. Numerous tourists have flocked to the city, and, naturally, they’re disappointed to find it in such a dreary state.

We hope that the situation will improve very soon and that the canals will once again fill with water and allow the gondoliers to return to their picturesque, tourist-pleasing trade.